I was flattered when local (amazing) indie bookstore Powells asked me to do an essay for Powells.com, and stunned when I saw the great list of other authors they’ve had do the same. I didn’t want to just phone in some marketing schtick, so I worked hard on this. I really hope you enjoy it. And while you’re there, check out some of those other essays.
And now comes the terrifying time when I start to hear from reviewers–who often read differently than fans. Gulp. Here we go…
Grasping for the Wind says, “When I expected [Weeks] to zig, he zagged, and when I expected a character to be a certain type of person, Weeks would throw me for a loop…. Weeks has written an epic fantasy unlike any of its contemporaries. It is a truly visionary and original work, and has set the bar high.” Oh, hey, that wasn’t too bad.
Fantasy Book Review says, “‘The Black Prism’ is first and foremost a novel with tremendous narrative energy. It just grabs you and never lets go…. I am still awed at how Mr. Weeks infuses the story with so much vigor, while keeping quite a few balls in the air and never slipping a bit…. There are dramatic twists and turns and scenes that will just floor you….[and] The world building is superlative.” Yeah, definitely, I’ll take that!
*UPDATE*
But you know you’re in trouble when The Onion reviews you. “His prose rings like crystal; his dialogue is witty, chatty, and brisk; and his pacing is frictionless, even when he’s embedding convoluted exposition into action scenes… The narrative flies along…” No, no, wait! Don’t go! He didn’t actually like it. There’s a critical art called “damning with faint praise.” Check this out; it’s awesome: “Weeks does deserve props for his oh-so-slight deviation from the fantasy formula, not to mention his lively, engaging storytelling.”
This is what it is to be a writer: one review says “truly visionary and original” the next says, “oh-so-slight deviation.” Is there cognitive dissonance in this job? Oh yes.
I will be posting links to pretty much every review, good and bad, on the review page. The next time you see me, either my skin will be thicker, or my head will be. Thanks to all the reviewers for taking the time to read and write your reviews.
*UPDATE 2*
A couple more reviews have rolled in before I head out on book tour.
WordTipping has more of an analysis than purely a review, dissecting what makes my books tick. Although I’m definitely quoting that bit about “flat out great storytelling” and “the best male writer of female characters I’ve ever read.”
Janicu’s Book Blog also gave me such a nice review that I’m going to have to restrain myself from pulling too lengthy of a quote from it. (Ahem) She found the female characters “spot on…the world building unique and better than Weeks’ last series, and the twists and turns addictive.” It was “jam packed with epic goodness.”
*UPDATE 3*
The reviews are coming in faster now, so after this round, they’ll go straight to the REVIEWS page of my website. I take a pretty laissez-faire approach to reviews: I’ll post good and bad so long as they appear to be from book-focused blogs or review sites. I don’t post reviews that spring spoilers on you without warning. I always include links so you can see the whole review if you wish.
Civilian Reader gives it a “very highly recommended,” saying, “The dialogue is great (witty, intelligent, brisk); his characters are complex, realistic, and likeable; and the story is highly imaginative and original… this is brilliant, epic fantasy.”
The Bookbag (which was a little tough on the Night Angel Trilogy), says The Black Prism “is an excellent start to what promises to be a superb trilogy. Highly recommended.” “The size of ‘The Black Prism’ is only indicative of the huge imagination Weeks has.”
The Mad Hatter’s Bookshelf and Book Review says, “Weeks managed to surprise me again and again with the depth [his characters] have. His greatest strength to date has been hiding secrets in plain sight yet still making them difficult enough to decipher that you have to laugh at yourself for not realizing the truth.”
Alternative Worlds calls The Black Prism “an exhilarating thriller…. Fast-paced and character-driven.”
The Falcata Times asks, “Is [Weeks] a one world, one series author and [will] his next project expand on his creativity? What unfurls is a rich new tapestry… Great stuff.”
Got Schephs gives it a 9/10, noting “the trademark humor…great characters…The fight scenes are some of the best I’ve ever read…. Ultimately, this book takes it to another level that even the NAT [Night Angel Trilogy] didn’t reach.”
LEC Book Reviews says “It establishes a thrilling world, fascinating magic system, and satisfying engaging characters.”
The King of the Nerds praises The Black Prism for having “extraordinarily entertaining characters absolutely bubbling over with vitality.”
Sometimes these things come to me in the strangest ways. Apparently, The Way of Shadows was just released in Russia by EKSMO Publishing. Someone in the comments dropped me the link, and sure enough, this has got to be my book: blue glowy sword, crumpled guard, broken window. This is a good example of what’s known as a ‘narrative cover’. The art tells a story. It’s a concept of what a cover should do that you don’t see as often in America or the UK anymore. (Blame short attention spans or evolving market demand or a simple quest for novelty.) But it can be a lot of fun to pick out things from the book and see how the artist has worked those together. It’s also proof that the artist read the book–which is definitely not guaranteed. I’ve seen hugely successful books by great authors that got totally random covers overseas–just because maybe the editor had rights to some piece of art that he liked. So… it’s a big world, strange things happen. So my thanks to my Russian editors and the translator, who contacted me many times (something I love!) to get things just right.
The Russian language version isn’t a huge launch, but if you see it and speak Russian, please let me know what you think!
In case you can’t stand the sight of me anymore… The barely toned baritone strikes again. This time without awkward hand gestures!
Shaun Farrell runs a website and podcast called Adventures in Sci-Fi Publishing. Shaun wasn’t on my planned itinerary of interviews, but I’m glad we threw something together. I’ve heard other authors praise Shaun’s interviews, and for good reason.
Check out the podcast here.: And while you’re there, you might want to grab some of the others. He’s got quite a Who’s Who of writers on there.
Pixelated Geek, a website focusing on…well, all things geek, caught up with me at the Orbit Booth at San Diego Comic-Con. Check out the fifteen minute long video interview filmed amidst the craziness of nerdvana. Thanks, Andrew!
For all of you who’ve been interested in seeing me, but who don’t live in any of the cities I’ll be visiting on my book tour, Orbit had the great idea of sending me on The Great First Annual Video Blog Tour. Sure, sure, other guys have done blog tours before, but TGFAVBT is new, different, amazing, novel! TGFAVBT has video.
That’s right. Some other authors might make you read several thousand words of text interview on your computer screen–and then expect you to read 210,000 more words in their book. Sheesh! They’ll tire your eyes out! Not me. Sit back, blink once in a while, look away from the screen for a bit as an Interesting Person walks past you in the coffee shop, and you can still hear the mellifluous strains of baritonal brilliance. Alternately, mute the sound and watch awkward hand gestures! Try to guess the times at which I don’t know what the hell I’m talking about! Imagine the contortions of the video editor, trying to make me look good!
The choice is yours. Personally, I can’t bear to watch. Too embarrassing. Plus, I was there.
Seriously, thanks to my blog hosts, who asked great questions and let me come stomp around their blogs and track dirt in. And thanks to A. at Orbit, who had the idea. This was just us trying to have some fun and hit a bunch of your questions.
Note: We’ll be releasing a new video interview each Monday of August, check here for new links.
Released 8/2: John at www.graspingforthewind.com
Released 8/9: Liviu at www.fantasybookcritic.com
Released 8/16: Janicu at www.janicu.livejournal.com
Released 8/24: The Book Smugglers at www.thebooksmugglers.com
If you enjoy audiobooks or their good-looking sister, the radio stage play, you may want to check out GraphicAudio. They’ve just released the final volume of Beyond the Shadows. I’ve had really good feedback so far, but if you’re on the fence or just curious what the deal is, they have free samples of their production on their website. GraphicAudio has also posted an interview with me, and another interview with the multi-talented director and musician Johann Dettweiler.
I am delighted to reveal the cover for the Spanish language edition of The Way of Shadows. El camino de las sombras will be released in Spain September 10th, and will be available in other Spanish-language markets (including in the United States) on December 7. Check out the goodies below!
The release of Book Two, Al filo de las sombras, is scheduled for November 19th, 2010. The release of Book Three, Más allá de las sombras, is scheduled for early February 2011. These release dates are for Spain only.
I’ve had some questions about the color quiz above, so I thought I’d answer them in one fell swoop. Orbit came up with the idea with the hope *nudge nudge* that people would share their results and spread the word about The Black Prism coming out on August 25th. I helped with the design of the quiz (based on tests prospective drafters in The Black Prism undergo), and I wrote the questions, answers, and brief description of magic in this new world I’ve created. Then Orbit handled the art and the coding–for which I am forever grateful. For the sake of not having this quiz take too long, things are a bit simplified from what you’ll find in the book, but we hope you’ll really enjoy it!
If you’re curious about how things might have turned out if you answered differently, please feel free to take it more than once.
I’m told I need have no fear: these are “our people.” The demography of geekery. More fanboys than an Apple WWDC. (And a worse wifi connection.)
I’ll be at the San Diego Comic-Con from Thursday, July 22nd to Sunday, July 25th. It will be like this–except with far more midichlorians.
Here’s a list of my public events. Come say hi!
Thursday at 1:30-2:30. Panel in room 24 ABC: Once Upon a Time: Larger-than-Life Heroes and Heroines (with Lynn Flewelling (The White Road), Christopher Paolini (the Inheritance cycle), Patrick Rothfuss (The Name of the Wind), Brandon Sanderson (The Way of Kings), and Megan Whalen Turner (the Queen’s Thief series). This will be my first-ever panel at any convention. Glad I decided to start small. *gulp* Softball questions welcome.
2:30-3:30 Book signing immediately after the panel with (I presume) all the other panelists. (Scheduling at Comic-Con is hard, and often changes. Check here and search “Brent Weeks” to make sure everything’s still where it’s supposed to be. I will update this page if I’m made aware of any changes, though.)
Friday 2-3: Book signing at the Orbit Booth #1116
Saturday 2-3: Book signing at the Orbit Booth #1116
Sunday 3-5: Joint reading/signing/Q&A with Pat Rothfuss and Brandon Sanderson at Borders (668 6th Avenue San Diego CA 92101 619-702-4200). This last event is off-site, so if you weren’t able to get tix to Comic-Con, but live close enough, two-thirds of this event is supposed to be awesome.